Friday, December 13, 2013

I’m calling this “miracle fudge” for several reasons. First
of all, the odds of me seeing a vegan fudge link on Twitter, and actually
clicking on it, are roughly zero. That alone makes this video miraculous, but
that cocoa, maple syrup, and coconut oil can combine to create something so
pleasurable and fudge-like, also makes it worthy of the title.

Michele actually discovered the link on Twitter, and called
my attention to it since she recognized the Tweeter as my friend, Stephanie
Stiavetti aka @sstiavetti. Nothing against Ms. Stiavetti, but this still
usually wouldn’t have been enough to tempt me, except that I heard mention of
coconut oil.

This was significant because another friend, Ariyele Ressler,
posted something called a "The Triple Luxe" on her YouTube channel
(pictured here), which featured this fascinating fat. I was captivated by her delicious looking creation, and the coconut oil's butter-like properties, and told myself that I needed pick some up for
experimentation.

Anyway, as a result of this perfect storm of social media
synchronicity, I decided to check out her recipe, and it rocked. I did a bunch
of tests, and even though you’re forfeiting some health benefits, I
found the refined coconut oil worked better than the raw, extra-virgin style,
if you want something closer to real chocolate fudge. The other key is to keep these in the freezer. They work at room temp, but the texture is much better cold.

The extra-virgin oil has a very pronounced coconut flavor,
and seemed to not provide quite as firm a bite. Of course, I expect you to
experiment and report back. As advertised, I think this would make a fun, and
unique edible gift for the foodies on your holiday gift list. I hope you give
this fudge recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Bonus Holiday Gift Idea:

Not only does Stephanie have
great taste in vegan fudge recipes, she also writes cookbooks! I just received
a copy of Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese, which she co-authored with Garrett
McCord, and it’s very well done. It’s getting rave reviews on Amazon, so if
you’re still in shopping mode, go check it out.

I don't know where you get your extra-virgin coconut oil from but you should switch. The whole point of extra-virgin is the mild taste due to the low extraction temperature. If it has a toasted, pronounced flavour the manufacturer is cutting corners while the refined variety is tasteless because it's been extracted with the use of a solvent not pressure.

just discovered your site when looking for a good beef short rib recipe. wow, I've been definitely missing out. you have an amazing site and your video formats are easy to follow. you sound like a nice cook "coach" with tips and humor. just added you to my bookmark menu. THANKS

Is it OK to replace the syrup (as here in Bulgaria it is hard to find) with bee honey and if yes in what proportion should I do it, thanks. Oh and by the way, you are great Chef John, thank you for all the ideas and little humour :)

Actually there was a problem with honey, the cocoa-honey mixture got super sticky and the coconut oil didn't really want to mix with it. Maybe I will try next time by putting more cocoa or softer honey.

Thank you, Chef John. I eat a large percentage of my daily calories in fat. I make "fat bombs" like this recipe keep me from having to gnaw on a stick of butter to get in all the fat.Just kidding!I will make it with maple syrup for a special day, but experiment with Truvia or another such sweetener, to lower the carbohydrate count. If it doesn't harden up, HEY! I'll scoop it up with a ridiculously tiny spoon!

Chef John, I SWEAR by your recipes. As a young newlywed wife who never learned to cook... You make me seem like a pro :). My husband is well fed and happy, thanks to you! Thank you, thank you! Just tested this recipe out - if all goes well I will be making 200 of these for Christmas in our neighbourhood. Wish me luck!

Chef John, I SWEAR by your recipes. As a young newlywed wife who never learned to cook... You make me seem like a pro :). My husband is well fed and happy, thanks to you! Thank you, thank you! Just tested this recipe out - if all goes well I will be making 200 of these for Christmas in our neighbourhood. Wish me luck!

I actually made this with cocoa butter instead of coconut oil. The thing is, the melted butter didn't really mix well with the mixture (seems like the fats were swimming around instead of mixing with the mixture) and it took a lot of effort to kinda get them combined. Not sure if it's because I used cocoa butter and not coconut oil. But still it froze well and the taste was good. Only thing was it kinda left a layer of fat when I poured into the mould and was a little goppy. And I forgot to spray non-stick on my plastic mould which made the fudge stick onto it.

Nobody gave me fudge for Christmas so i made these for myself. Ran out of maple syrup so topped it off with dark agave syrup. I had pecans just waiting to be toasted and added to fudge so I used them. And I subbed part of the refined coconut oil with pure EV coconut oil. Came out fantastic. So dark and rich. Chef John, would it still come out good if I cut the syrup in half? I love bittersweet chocolate, you know not to sweet. Thanks for a great gluten and lactose free recipe.You are awesome!

I knwo this might sound like a silly question but I am looking for the "real maple syrup" and I was typing online and there seems to be different types I didn't even realize. So what type do I buy? Grade A ot Grade B maple syrup and what kind of company?? Please and thank you!

I did not have maple syrup in the house (which is actually unusual for me) but wanted to try this anyway, so I used agave. It was straight up agave, not "dark" or anything. How did it turn out? Well it's delicious but not as firm or smooth as yours looks in the picture. It fell apart getting it out of the molds. Considering I was more than willing to just take a spoon to it and eat half a dozen before I knew what I was doing, I'd say the taste didn't suffer.

Chef John, I used same proportion of honey instead of maple syrup, but the honey is overpowering the chocolate. It tastes a lot of honey and a little like chocolate but the texture is amazing. can you suggest some other sweetening agent

I made it using the raw virgin coconut oil and mine did just fine. I didn't have a silicone mold so I used a cookie scoop (looks like a mini ice cream scoop) made cute lil drops. I sifted some cocoa powder over the tops and put them in the candy wrappers (like cupcake ones only smaller) and then put them on candy plates I made from melting hard candies in mini springform pans wrapped them up in holiday printed cellophane and gave them to the neighbors for Christmas gifts. Everyone loved them, and after they were gone I mentioned they were vegan-and they told me NO EVER LOVING WAY.